personality

A young cow and a young girl

/ dairymilkmaid / 2 Comments
Zoe and Pearlie Girly the Cow

Zoe and Pearlie Girly have a unique relationship

Meet Pearlie Girly. Just like her equally cheeky mate, cow 33, Pearlie Girly is a young crossbred cow with an extra dose of personality. Since she is always one of the last in the herd to come into the shed, we get to spend a lot of time with her and Zoe has struck up a curious relationship with the little cow.

Pearlie likes Zoe. Zoe likes Pearlie. Pearlie lets Zoe pat her on the shoulder. Pearlie says “Enough!” and that’s it for the rest of the trip to the dairy. Oh, to be queen of one’s domain…
 

Cows with attitude

/ dairymilkmaid / 2 Comments

The video footage showing an Irish “cowdini” making her escape got me thinking about some of the characters in our dairy herd.

First, there was the infamous “Lipstick”, who terrorised me as a child. She didn’t like to be messed with and she didn’t baulk at the flailing arms of anyone under 6′ tall either. Her daughter and grand-daughter, who bore the trademark black lips and white face were equally as formidable.

Queen Bessie was, on the other hand, a charming yet dignified old lady. Big brown eyes and long lashes batted drowsily as she soaked up loving scratches. One of the few times I saw tears well in Dad’s eyes was when Queen Bessie died after more than a decade of owning the square of yard at the entrance to the dairy.

Thirty years on, Zoe is in love with Pearlie Girlie. This diminutive three-year-old hangs back during rounding up and is happy to be patted until she decides enough is enough and dismisses her young adorer with a regal toss of the head.

A dog has a master, a cat only servants, and cows…courtiers.